How many of us remember being read to by our parents? It must have stopped early for a lot of us, as I don’t remember reading with my parents past 4-5 years old, and that was BEFORE all the electronic distractions. I don’t mean electronic baseball and pong. Those were still interactive and played by more than one. I’m talking about the iStuff that sucks HOURS of life from our children if we let it. I emphasis “if we let it” because we can affect the outcome.
We try to read with our 7YO and 3YO each night for at least 10-15 minutes. More if time allows. The ‘Lil Man is interested in trucks, how things are made, and so forth. He’s happy with one or two shorter books, as that’s all he has the attention for. Our ‘Lil Miss, however, is into chapter books. That’s where our tale gets fun.
The Wife found out about the book series, Ivy + Bean, by Annie Barrows. They have been the MOST fun. The Wife is quite the research junkie, so she looked for the right transition books that we could incorporate into our evening read. She found the books to be recommended by several different sites, moms, etc. They appeared to be that “transition” read that bridged the pictured book and the chapter book. There was just enough illustration to the story, but heading in the direction of just a good read for the child to imagine things on their own. OH, how it’s paid off! The Wife and our ‘Lil Miss love to read them together. Our little girl laughs at the funny parts, and asks questions along the way. At other times, when our young reader needs some time to herself, we’ll catch her reading them on her own. We’re quite happy with the effect they’ve had on her reading habit.
To quote the description from Annie Borrows’ site: Ivy and Bean are very different. Bean is loud and wild and goofy. She loves to be involved in games and poke her nose in other people’s business. Ivy is quiet and full of ideas. She spends most of her time learning how to be a witch. Each girl thinks the other one is weird. Each girl thinks she could never be friends with the other. Especially because their parents keep nagging them about it.But sometimes opposites can become the best of friends because they’re opposites.
It’s a wonderful series for girls. It’s already taught her to look for friends in unexpected places. The stories are great and the characters are cute & fun. The Wife and I highly recommend them for your young girls. Enjoy!
J.
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